There are two stone lions in front of the gate of Zhou's mansion, and the big red lantern is hung high on the door, illuminating the surrounding area in red.

The door was locked, Fang Yun walked to the door, grabbed the copper ring and knocked on the door three times.

"Wait a minute. A man's voice was heard inside, and then the door opened, and a middle-aged man in his forties appeared behind the door.

Fang Yun handed over the letter and said, "Xiaosheng Fang Yun." This is a letter from Cai He, the county magistrate of Jixian County, to send me to Master Zhou, I was supposed to come a few days ago, but something was delayed, so I arrived today. ”

When the porter saw that Fang Yun was wearing a child's clothes, he immediately respectfully accepted the letter with both hands and said, "Wait a minute, I'll give it to the master immediately." ”

The porter was about to close, but after a moment's hesitation, he did not close it, but hurried inside.

Fang Yun heard him whisper as he walked, "Fang Yun, it seems that I have heard the old man mention it." ”

After a while, I heard a shout from inside: "Fang Shuangjia is here?"

Fang Yun heard that the secret way was not good, why is this person's firecracker smell so strong, could it be that this person has a bad relationship with Cai He, or something has changed?

Fang Yun pinched the thick manuscript paper in his hand, hesitated for a moment, and stood still.

Passing through the hidden door, Fang Yun saw a middle-aged man in civilian clothes striding over.

When the man saw Fang Yun, his expression changed, and he couldn't help but laugh and said, "Okay, you Fang Shuangjia, the court is messing up a pot of porridge for you, how can you be so calm?"

Fang Yun looked confused, the court, the king of the capital summoned the ministers, the ministers made a mess for themselves, fake, right?

When the man saw Fang Yun's appearance, he was amused, and said, "Don't stand there, come in and say." You!" he said, shaking his head.

Fang Yun said, "Student Fang Yun has seen Master Zhou. ”

This six-grade official with real power has no official authority, just like an elder seeing a junior, patted Fang Yun's shoulder, and said with a smile: "Since it is Cai He's double armor, it is a family, you're welcome, come in and say." ”

Fang Yun knew that it was absolutely impossible for a real power six-rank official to be so enthusiastic about the person he met for the first time, something must have happened, so he thanked him and said as he walked: "Lord Zhou, I have been busy these days and have not been in contact with the outside world, what happened?"

Master Zhou smiled: "What else can it be, of course it's your poems." After Cai He got your Zhenguo poem, he immediately passed the book to the lord of the courtyard, and the adult was amazed after reading it, and then sent it to the holy courtyard and Wenxiang, but the adult immediately regretted it, and should send it later. ”

"And then there was a commotion?"

"It was a calm day, but the next morning, something happened. The head of the academy scholar of the school palace asked for a knighthood for you in the court, saying that you are not only the first double-armor saint in Jingguo, but also the first Jingguo child to publish an article in the "Holy Dao", or the first in the ten countries to make poems in Dafu, Mingzhou and Zhenguo as a child, and the first person in the ten countries to share three poems in the "Holy Dao", and the only one in the ten countries who was obviously a child and shook the morale of the university. No way is for Jingguo or the human race, you have made great contributions, and you should be named the ninth generation of county uncles. ”

Fang Yun was taken aback, in the Shengyuan Continent, although the title and grade are not the same, there is also a corresponding relationship, the lowest townsman is equal to the ninth rank, and the highest prince is equivalent to the first rank. And the county uncle is equivalent to the sixth grade, which means that if he is awarded the title of county uncle, Cai County Order must salute him as an official when he sees him.

If he can really get the county uncle, then Fang Yun will not have to be afraid to do things, and his life will be much better in the future, so that he will not even have to open a bookstore to pull his family.

Nine generations of county uncles, that is, children and grandchildren can inherit this title within nine generations, which can be described as extremely prominent in a mansion.

"But things aren't going well?" Fang Yun asked.

"The people on the left are against it. The knighthood requires the recommendation of the Ministry of War and the Ministry of Officials, and then the decision of the Cabinet and the Monarch. But ninety percent of the officials are the people of the left minister, and the squire of the military department is also the person of the left minister, and the matter of knighthood is precisely the person of the military department. Therefore, if the left minister does not agree, no one can knight you unless the queen mother overrides public opinion. ”

"What is stopping me from Zuo Xiangwei?" Fang Yun said, and the two of them walked into the main hall and sat down on either side of a table.

Master Zhou glanced at Fang Yun and said, "Of course Zuo Xiang himself will not come forward, it is Hong Shilang from the Ministry of War who will come forward." His excuse is your poem "Twilight", saying that you have to write this poem before you become a child, and if you talk about government and politics at a young age without experience, it will inevitably be useless in the future. ”

"No one refutes this ridiculous reason?"

Of course, some people retorted, saying that you only stopped writing half of the poem in the examination room, and only wrote the whole poem when you have a literary position, you know how to advance and retreat, understand the rules, and you must reuse it. But neither side could convince anyone. Some people praise you for your good poetry, but the left minister and his family say that poetry is a small way; some people say that you make the scholars of the enemy country shake their courage, but they say that there is no evidence; some people say that you can write three poems and have to be rewarded heavily, and the people on the left say that you are too young to help the seedlings grow, and you should be sharpened heavily, only in this way will you know how to serve the country in the future. ”

Fang Yun sneered and asked, "Have you heard any rumors?" In my opinion, there is no need for Zuo Xiang to target me because of a poem. ”

Master Zhou pondered for a moment and said, "Then I'll tell the truth." Zuo Xiang won't just target you because of a poem, but if you are the head of the Shuangjia case of Cai County Lingdian, and Cai County Ling is a student of Wen Xiang, and you are very likely to become a university scholar or even a great Confucian, then he has enough reasons to target you. What's more, you have a bad relationship with the famous Liu family? I got information from Beijing that Liu Zizhi of the Liu family seems to have a lot of criticism for you, and some of his words are almost slanderous. ”

"What did he say?"

"Saying that you are lazy and dependent on women to support you is probably like this. In short, the Beijing has a very bad opinion about you. Master Zhou didn't say anything deep.

Fang Yun's face turned pale, and he said, "Could it be that he was born in a rich and noble family, so he can slander me and other poor disciples?"

"Alas, there is no way, the left phase is powerful, and no one dares to offend the Liu family now. I suspect that someone deliberately said you in front of Zuo Xiang, and deliberately associated "Twilight" with him, so Zuo Xiang will not personally open his mouth against you, but if he does not speak, it is equivalent to acquiescing in the attack on you. ”

"What is the Queen Mother's reaction?" Fang Yun asked.

"The Queen Mother naturally wants to knight you, but now that Zuo Xiang has the upper hand, she can't be angry. But you can't get rid of the credit, so both sides will negotiate an acceptable outcome. ”

Fang Yundao: "You have been in officialdom for a long time, can you guess the final result?"

"Alas, in fact, many people can guess that this kind of thing has not happened. ”

"Tell me about it. Fang Yundao.

"First, give some gold and silver, antiques, or silk silk, and second, posthumously seal your father's house. Third, turn your merits into literary merits, and once you are admitted to the promotion or jinshi to become an official official, your grade can be directly improved. But as long as you are not officially an official, literary merit is equivalent to a dead letter. ”

Fang Yun asked: "Aren't Zuo Xiang and the others afraid that I will be promoted again and again after becoming an official?"

Master Zhou said: "Once you are knighted, unless you commit major crimes such as treason and treason, Zuo Xiang cannot punish you." But if you are just a civil official, Zuo Xiang has countless ways to target you, even if you have just become a Jinshi and you are a member of the Five Ranks, so what? The Ministry of Officials is in the hands of Zuo Xiang, and he can completely assign you to a cold yamen. And, when are you going to become a Jinshi? 10 or 20 years?"

Fang Yun didn't understand the affairs of Jingguo's officialdom, and after Zhou Zhushu said this, he suddenly realized that he completely understood the sinister intentions of the Zuo Xiang family.

Fang Yun bowed his head and was silent, falling into deep thought. The minister can't fight the left minister, and he can't do it, now the position is too low, so he can only endure it, but the left minister can only affect the official position, not the civil position, there is no need to be afraid of him, at most he can't be a civil official. Wait for the literary position to get higher, and then find a way to avenge the revenge. Rather than be silent, it is better to take this opportunity to make a good name and unite against those on the left.

After a while, Fang Yun raised his head and said, "Lord Zhou, can you write a memorabilia to show your heart to the monarch and the queen mother for me?"

"Naturally. Master Zhou looked at Fang Yun curiously.

Fang Yun said awe-inspiringly: "As a citizen of Jingguo, I naturally have to understand the difficulties of the princes of the court, and I take the initiative to ask for the merit to be converted into literary merit, so as not to hurt my own people under the cruel tiger's eyes." I am deeply grateful to all of you who have asked me to be knighted, and I will thank you if I have the opportunity. But I am even more deeply grateful to the adults who prevented me from being knighted, they are really for the country, the public and the people, if there is a chance, I will thank you a hundred times!"

Master Zhou was secretly shocked, he couldn't imagine that a young boy's words would be so loud, and he was surprised by his decisiveness and trade-offs, since he knew that he could not be knighted, he would take the initiative to retreat, leaving a good reputation for knowing the general situation, and at the same time ridiculing the people of the left prime minister for fighting infighting at such a time.

"Isn't this wording too direct?" "In what way does the Zhou Master Book Natural Fang Yun use to "thank you a hundredfold".

"Then I can't say that our luck wants to take back the credit that belongs to me at a speed that they can't even dream of, and then make them regret obstructing me!" Fang Yun said slightly angrily.

Master Zhou sighed lightly and said, "After all, you are a teenager who became famous, and you should be a tooth for a tooth if you suffer this humiliation." If you don't keep quiet, that's weird. In this way, I will write a memorabilia according to your original intention, but change the wording slightly, of course, it will not degrade your momentum, after all, you have no merit. ”

Fang Yun took a deep breath and said, "Then thank Master Zhou first." By the way, since I have made so many good poems, will our state academy give me some rewards? How about a thousand taels of silver?"

Master Zhou smiled dumbly and said, "You want a double reward?"

Fang Yun immediately said: "If the Academy of Literature is difficult, then I won't force it." I recently wrote two novels, and I want to sell them to make money to support my family, but the publication of the book needs to be reviewed by the Academy of Literature, so I would like to ask you to make it easier. Also, if you like, write a preface to my novel. ”

When Zhou Zhushu heard this, he thought that Fang Yun was really smart, obviously he came to ask for an audit in advance, but he first proposed to ask the State Academy of Literature to issue a reward, and then retreated to the second, he didn't agree. Hearing the preface, he was about to refuse, but his heart moved.